1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a control valve and, more particularly, to a pinch valve operative for reducing the pressure and attenuating the noise of highly pressurized fluids being conveyed along a pipe line.
2. Description of Related Art
There are many industrial applications in which pipe lines convey highly pressurized fluids. For example, power plants convey steam at elevated pressures on the order of 3000 psi through a pipe line to a steam turbine. Any steam not being used by the turbine is vented to the atmosphere. Unless such elevated pressures of the steam are reduced, a very shrill, deafening sound would be produced by the vented steam.
Typically, a succession of valves are employed to drop the pressure with concomitant noise abatement prior to venting the steam to the environment. Although generally satisfactory, the use of such a large number of valves is very costly and makes for a fairly complicated valve system requiring frequent maintenance.